Crowley Solutions Raises Asia/Pacific Profile

Crowley's project management organization, 'solutions', will soon expand its presence in Asia Pacific market with new office and construction of up to four dedicated heavy-lift deck barges.

Because of changing market conditions and a commitment to proactively support customer needs, Crowley Maritime Corp. ’s solutions group is expanding its presence in the Asia Pacific market by opening a new project management office in Singapore and building two new heavy-lift deck cargo barges for dedicated use in the region. The company also has an option for the construction of two additional barges.

Crowley's expansion will allow the company to better support customers in the oil and gas mining; Engineering, Construction and Procurement Management (ECPM); and Engineering, Procurement, Installation and Commissioning (EPIC) industries who are increasingly embarking on large-scale onshore and offshore projects, and require additional support and resources including full-service project management and logistics solutions.

“This move not only allows us to broaden our geographical reach, but will also allow for more efficient turnkey solutions within the areas in which our customers are focused,” said Craig Tornga, Crowley's vice president of solutions. “It is also important for us to be able to support the operation and market growth with dedicated equipment, which is why we are investing in the construction of two new barges for the region.”

The group’s two new 400-foot-long and 120-foot-wide (122 meter x 36.5 meter) heavy-lift deck (HDB) barges, to be named HDB 01 and HDB 02, will be positioned in Batam, Indonesia, to support customers with marine projects. The barges will have 25-foot (7.6 meter) side shells, which provide both the capacity and deck strength up to 4,200 pounds per square foot [25 tons per square meter] needed to accommodate larger drilling and production units used for deepwater offshore energy exploration and development.

Additionally, the HDB series barges are designed with more robust ballast systems to deal with high tidal ranges found in the region’s load and discharge ports, and with the internal strength to withstand setting on bottom of the seabed while loaded if so dictated by shallow discharge ports where tidal movement may be problematic.

“As the industry looks to build and transport larger construction modules and topsides, the new Crowley HDB series barges will be better suited to handle the complex deck loads without the need for additional grillage in most cases,” said Tornga.

The barges will be ABS-classed, with an approximate dead weight capacity of 20,000 metric tons. Both were designed by Crowley's naval architecture and mariner engineering subsidiary Jensen Maritime , and are currently under construction in China. They are scheduled for delivery in early 2014. The exact address of the new office in Singapore is being determined and will be announced later this year.

Crowley's solutions group is a Project Management Organization (PMOrg) providing marine solutions as a prime contractor for the energy and resource extraction industries. This specialized team, which has its main Project Management Office (PMO) in Houston, Texas, provides turnkey marine solutions through the company's diverse capabilities, assets and world-class project management skills. The solutions group allows Crowley to provide greater value to customers with multifaceted marine and offshore construction-related projects.

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